Drowning
by FastIce
Summary: Gregory Edgeworth takes on his first solo case. But when the testimony takes an ugly turn and the detective is crabbier than a bucket full of sour grapes, he may come away with more than he bargained for...
1. In which our story begins

**So I was looking through the archive and I thought I'd take a look at some Gregory fics – and there weren't any like this. So I was all, what the heck, why not? And this was the result. **

"I... I'm sorry Mr. Edgeworth. I just don't know. It could have been anyone, they had a hood on and it was dark, I couldn't see a thing. All I remember is that they were shorter than I was. It could have been a small woman, like Ruby, or a child, like Len. I just can't believe that he would!"

"Hold it! Miss Lyons, are you implicating _Len _as the murderer? He's eight, not to mention your brother!"

"Maybe, Mr. Edgeworth. But I just can't believe he could have done it." The defendant's shoulders sagged. There was a contemplative silence as both mulled over the possibility of an eight year old defendant on the stand. Needless to say, it was not a nice image. _I suppose I'd better go and take another look at the crime scene. Hopefully Jetting'll have found some evidence to support our case._ Gregory Edgeworth stood up.

"Miss Lyons? I'm going to reinvestigaste the docks. I have a feeling that there might be something I've missed – please, don't cry! We'll get you out, I'm certain you're innocent!"

"Thank you. I-I know, but - it's just – Freddie! What if he did it?"

"Miss Lyons. Nessa. Look at me. On a scale of one to ten, how likely do you think it is that your brother is the killer?"

"Not – too likely – but oh, he does tend to snap! What if he had one of his episodes? He doesn't know what he's doing..." Miss Lyons said, between gulps.

"I'm sorry Mr Edgeworth," said the guard "but I'm going to have to ask you to leave. Miss Lyons will meet you in the defendant's lobby at nine sharp tomorrow."

...

Gregory stood on the floating platform, looking at the water into which the defendant had supposedly jumped with the defendant. _Is it possible that Lilywhite could have thrown Lyons in with him rather than vice versa? Something still doesn't seem quite right to me... hmm. Let me see... why would Lyons have thrown herself into the river with Lilywhite? Well, to avoid her debt, I suppose. But if she was going to be excused from her debt by his death, what would be the point of the two dying together? And who is this mysterious person she is insisting that she saw? Surely it couldn't have been Len. Although... when you consider how much he cares for his sister he could have wanted the victim dead – Ah! Don't be stupid, Gregory, why would he have tried to murder his sister? So who –_

"Mr Edgeworth? Would you mind? Cheers." Gregory turned around and found himself staring into the face of Ruby Jetting, a fairly new detective armed with a camera. He shifted aside as she busied herself taking picture after picture of the wood, until suddenly stopping, and zooming in on a certain point dangerously close to the water's edge. As she moved the camera closer and closer to the suspicious spot, the heel of her shoe slipped through the gap between two planks of wood. Lifting her leg to pull it out, a sickening crack announced a broken ankle as she fell off balance, tumbling into the water.

With no one else around, Gregory found himself diving in after the detective, catching her under the arms and propelling them to the surface. They almost made it. Unfortunately, something – he never did find out what – drew them further and further out away from the docks, jerking them under and only occasionally allowing them to surface for air. Eventually, the two washed up into a cave - a cave teeming with forensic scientists, detectives and police officers. Looking around him, something g clicked in the rookie defence attorney's brain.

"We assumed that the defendant drugged the victim before pushing him in, didn't we?" He asked. Ruby nodded.

"We did. Oh god. Argh! My _ankle! _A little help please?" she called weakly to the many investigators working around a chalk outline, but Gregory was far too preoccupied with his thoughts to aid her in her quest. "What if..."

...

The two sat in the ward as Ruby examined the cast now adorning her leg.

"So what are you saying? You think that the victim was drugged before he met the defendant, saw her being thrown in unconscious and attempted to do exactly what you just did to me? You're mad, Edgeworth."

"Why not? There's no evidence to the contrary."

"There's no evidence to support your theory either. There's just not _enough_! Ugh, why did I get stuck with this case?"

"I think I'll find a way to prove it in court. Right now, however, I need to leave. I assume that I won't be seeing you in tomorrow?"

"You really are mad. I've worked too hard on this case not to see it through. I'll definitely be there."

"Is that wise? I mean –"

"Mr. Edgeworth. I don't have to take orders from you. I'll see you in court tomorrow, in my hospital gown if I have to. Don't you dare argue."

"As you wish."

**...**

**This is going to be a twoshot. I'm not sure, what do you think? I normally despise OCs but I needed one for this story to work. Tell me what you think and if this is too boring I'll just delete the story.**


	2. In which our story ends

**I thought about it. SierraSilver (who reviewed, cheers!) is right, it's hard to get a whole case into two chapters. There might be three, then, depending on how this goes, but the plan was never to show the whole case. If I don't think I've developed it enough then I might turn this into a short series, but enough of this. Onwards!**

Gregory Edgeworth sat facing Len, who looked even more downcast than his sister had. The hostel that the boy had been put up in for the moment looked clean and cheerful, but it was clear upon looking at the residents that the place was not a home to anyone, and all would rather have been somewhere else.

"It was my fault, wasn't it?" The boy said, burying himself deeper into his jacket.

"No, no. Len. I can promise you now that there is nothing which suggests to me that you are in any way directly involved in this case, understand? There's nothing to worry about."

Len had fallen silent. When he spoke again, it sounded like he was trying so hard not to cry that Gregory almost wanted hug him and reassure him that everything was going to be okay.

"M...Mr. Edgeworth? Are they going to take my sister away from me?"

"Not if I can help it. We'll find the real culprit and then you and your sister will be just fine, I promise."

"You're sure?" Gregory nodded.

"Absolutely." He smiled at the boy, stood up, and left. Just outside the door, however, he thought he heard a sob and was almost about to go back in when he was interrupted by a girl of about seven hitting him head on.

"Es tut mir leid! Oh! I am very sorry. I was not looking where I was going."

"It's okay. What's your name?"

"My name is Daniela von Karma. What is your name?"

"I'm Gregory Edgeworth. Are you Manfred von Karma's daughter?"

"Yes! My papa will be along in a short while. He's just on his way. He has a whole new case to prosecute!" Gregory felt his blood stop, frozen.

"What's the case like?" he asked as casually as he could.

"There was this man drowned and this girl got hit over the head but Papa thinks she's lying and there's a little boy we have to go and talk to now! Isn't it amazing?"

"Yeah... amazing." Gregory said, absently. _Manfred von Karma. _He thought. _He's got a fifteen year win record and he's rumoured to forge evidence regularly. Maybe I should just give up... No! I have to prove Lyons innocent! Remember, Gregory, no one got anywhere by giving up on anything. _

...

"Is the defence ready?"

"The defence is ready, your Honour."

"Is the prosecution ready?"

"The prosecution will be ready to leave within twenty minutes, when the defendant has been proven guilty."

"Then let's begin. Call the defendant to the stand. Your opening statement please, Mr. Von Karma."

...

There was a recess, and if Gregory was honest, the trial was not looking good.

"We're not going to able to do it, are we?"

"Miss Lyons, please cheer up. I'm sure that we'll be able to solve this somehow, with a little forethought." There was silence while the two tried to convince themselves of the truth in Gregory's words. Ruby, sat in a borrowed wheelchair, interrupted it.

"Don't kid yourself. Mr. Von Karma isn't halfway done get, he'll tear you to shreds and then he'll send you through the meat mincer." She said, bitterly.

"Way to give us hope, Ruby." Gregory said, more than a little irritated with the detective's pessimistic attitude. Her testimony had not been altogether helpful, although she'd obviously been trying her best to make it seem as though the whole trial was a dreadful mistake. All that had done was hurt her credibility when von Karma had called her out for biased testimony, stretching the Judges patience to a level Gregory had been hoping not to see within the first five minutes of the trial.

"Hey, I'm just being realistic. I tell you what though – we investigated that crime scene so thoroughly that if a beetle had crossed across since we last looked, we'd have noticed. But von Karma has a piece of evidence we didn't find, and he'll claim he found it. So why didn't we? I'm certain it's forged."

"Really? I mean, I'd heard rumours, but... I just can't believe he really did. So, exactly which piece of evi-"

"Jetting!" Gregory was cut off by a bark from a young man down the hall. "Here. Now!" Ruby nodded.

"Right away, Mr. Badd sir! I'm sorry, Edgeworth, that's my boss. I'd better get going; he doesn't like to be kept waiting. Good luck!" She rushed off.

"Do you think she meant it? About the evidence?" Nessa said, hopefully.

"Almost certainly. People've been saying that about von Karma for years, and she really did seem certain... we might be able to get you off after all!"

...

"...So there is, in fact, no evidence which implicates the defendant on in the murder whatsoever! She just happened to meet Mr. Bosia on the way to the docks when he hit her over the head with this bottle because he thought he'd been found out after he drugged the victim. He then threw her into the water and the victim dived in after her."

"OBJECTION! Your argument is flawed, Edgeworth. How could he have saved her when he was already unconscious due to the drug?" Gregory paused for a moment. _I suppose I didn't think about that. Let me see... is there any way Lilywhite may still have been conscious when he hit the water? Ah! _

"TAKE THAT! If we look at the report the toxicologist prepared on the drug, it says it takes roughly eight minutes to begin to act and is unnoticeable until about thirty seconds before you pass out. If we assume that Mr. Bosia drugged the victim, then it would have taken him three minutes to walk to the point on this map where the defendant claims to have met him. He sees the defendant, panics, and knocks her out with this bottle, which you will see has his fingerprints on it but no blood. Thinking he's killed her, he decides to cover up the crime. Seeing a way to kill two birds with one stone, he slips the syringe into her pocket and walks back to the waterside, slowed slightly this time by the body in his arms. Say it takes a minute longer than last time, that's seven minutes, assuming that hitting her over the head and panicking took about ten seconds. So at seven minutes and ten seconds after he drugged the victim, he is seen throwing a body into the water. That gives the defendant a whole twenty seconds to run the ten metres to where he saw the "corpse" being dumped, and, not knowing whether she was alive or dead, dive in after her. He could have been in the water for five, ten seconds even, before the drug took effect!"

"OBJECTION! If both defendant and victim were out cold, how could either of them swum to shore?"

"Simple. After all, the water temperature is recorded as being at five degrees that night. Don't you think dumping a body into such cold water is likely to wake it up?"

"Your line of thinking amuses me." Gregory looked at von Karma, unsure if he had just heard what he thought he had.

"I'm sorry, how is that relevant to this trial?"

"It's just a fantastic story, Mr. Edgeworth, and I'm sorry to have to rip it apart. But in light of this evidence, I'm afraid your theory has no truth in it whatsoever."

"Eh? Which piece of evidence?" von Karma held up a package.

"This is the victim's jacket, which I found screwed up into a ball in a corner of the cave. It has quite a clear imprint of the defendant's open hand on the front of it, irrefutable evidence that she pushed him." Bells chimed in Gregory's brain. _This must have been what Ruby was talking about. Guess she really is on Miss Lyons's side, after all. _

"HOLD IT! Mr von Karma, Mr. Lilywhite, the defendant, I mean, wasn't wearing a jacket when I met with him." Von Karma glared at the defendant on the stand.

"These CCTV tapes of the area surrounding the docks would say otherwise." He said, coolly. A look of confusion crossed Nessa's face before she decided to keep silent.

"Mr von Karma – I find it strange that you rather than the detective investigating the crime scene found this vital piece of evidence."

"Mr. Edgeworth, while Jetting has a lot to recommend herself, we must not forget that she is still relatively new to the job of homicide detective. As they say, after all, "to err is human.""

"Your Honour, I must protest. This evidence is clearly forged, there's no way the defendant was wearing this on the night of the crime."

"Mr. Edgeworth. I must now ask you to think very carefully. Are you aware of the seriousness of that allegation?"

"I am, your honour, fully aware."

"Very well. Baliff! Have these examined at once!"

"No examination will be necessary. I can assure you that this evidence is genuine."

"Very well then, Mr. Von Karma, as you wish. Cancel the examination!" Gregory felt his eye twitch.

"B... bu... but... but that's... that's just wrong, I mean, how can you expect..." von Karma fixed Gregory with the same stare he had fixed on Lyons a few seconds before.

"Have you any evidence that the article I have just submitted to the court record is forged?"

"Well... no, but doesn't it just seem a little convenient?"

"And it didn't seem a little convenient that the defendant met the witness at the particular spot you claim she did? I'm sorry Mr Edgeworth, but your client is guilty." There was a shocked pause.

"Has the defence any further comments?"

"Apart from the sheer ridiculousness of what just happened? No. No... I... can't say I have."

"If the defence has no further comments, I declare the defendant, Nessa Lyons,  
GUILTY."

...

A wail rang out trough the courthouse. Gregory Edgeworth, defeated with his head in his hands looked up to see Ruby in tears.

"Tyrell, what happened? She'd done nothing wrong, von Karma's crooked and everyone knows it! There must be another way! Look at it, even a blind monkey with half a brain could see that that evidence was forged, and now Len's going to be sent to live with relatives he's never met and Nessa's going to be executed! Can't we do anything?"

"Short of an appeal... I'm afraid not. I'm sorry Ruby, that's just the way it works."

"Then I resign. I just don't think I can do that again. You'll have my letter of resignation on your desk by eleven o'clock tomorrow morning."

"I couldn't ask you to reconsider? You were shaping up to be a fine detective."

"I'm sorry, but I just couldn't go through that again. I'll keep working for justice though."

"I'll look out for it. Goodbye then, Ruby Jetting. Good luck." Badd smiled, and left for the police station. Ruby collapsed onto the chair next to Gregory.

"That was a very brave thing you just did." He said.

"Don't patronise me. I've just been part of someone's death and I've lost my job. My ankle is broken and I don't know where the money is going to come from to pay off the insurance. I don't need you to make it worse."

"I understand. I'm sorry. You know... if you're really that desperate, you could always come and work for me. I'd appreciate that." Ruby looked at him for a second as if trying to work out of he was serious or not.

"You know what? I might just take you up on that."

...

Mrs. Edgeworth kissed her young son's forehead, and tucked him in.

"Is that really how you met Dad?" he asked as she walked over to the light switch and put a stray storybook back onto the shelf. She smiled.

"Yeah. Strange, isn't it?"

"Yeah. Mom? Can you tell me some more about you and Dad?"

"Maybe. But not tonight, Miles. It's way past your bedtime and I have a report to finish."

"Alright then. Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too. Now go to sleep!"

**There we go. Maybe I should do a series, but then again that would mean more OC writing. Up for debate.**


End file.
